Learning Morse Code

Introduction

For many of today’s hams there was no choice; obtaining a ham license required learning Morse code.Five words a minute was the requirement for the entry level Novice license and also for the renewable, but VHF only, Technician ticket.A General or Advanced class required 13 wpm and it was 20 wpm for an Extra.

In 1991 the code requirement was eliminated for the Technician class, in 2000 it was reduced to 5wpm for all classes that still required code and in 2007 the code requirement was eliminated entirely.

Whatever your reason for learning Morse code now, we have some links on this page that will help you.

G4FONs Morse Training Program
This free application uses the Koch method to teach CW. Letters are sent at the speed which you hope to achieve, but only two at a time. When you reach 90% proficiency with two letters, two more letters are added.

Learn CW Online
You can learn and practice CW at various speeds and formats with words, letter groups, and call signs through the Koch method. Offers training for the unique QTC exchange used in the Worked All Europe contest.

This 12-lesson course is designed for beginners who don't know the difference between a dit and a dah. It teaches students to copy and write down letters, rather than copying in their heads. It starts with identyifying the sound of dits and dahs and progresses to a five word per minute speed.

There is no cost or obligation to participate in CWops CW Academy Classes and membership is not required. Enrollment is open to anyone with the desire to learn or improve their proficiency in Morse Code.

Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872) was a painter and founder of the National Academy of Design. In 1832, while on a ship returning from Europe, he conceived the basic idea of an electromagnetic telegraph. Experiments with various kinds of electrical instruments and codes resulted in a demonstration of a working telegraph set in 1836, and introduction of the circuit relay. This made transmission possible for any distance. With his creation of the American Morse code, the historic message, "What hath God wrought?" was sucessfully sent from Washington to Baltimore.

The Morse code used in those days differed greatly from that which is used today. Morse code originated on telegraph lines and the original users did not listen to tones but instead to the clicking sounds created by sounders. They used the American Morse code as opposed to today's International Morse. When sending dahs (Morse code is composed of dits or short key closures, and dahs or longer key closures) the user simply sent two close-together dits. This was created by using a conventional code key.

With the advent of radio communications, the international Morse became more widespread. Users of the international Morse created dahs with a longer key closure, instead of two close-spaced dits. In order to increase transmission speed on early landline circuits and later on radio circuits, semi-automatic "bug" keys were invented in 1902 and were widely adopted. Bug keys used a vibrating pendulum to create dits and the user still manually creates the dahs.

In more recent times, the user can employ keyers that electronically create dits and dahs. Iambic keyers have a memory so that the user can operate a mechanical "paddle" quicker than the keying rate of the keyer. This makes for very comfortable and nearly effortless keying.

Today experienced operators copy received text without the need to write as they receive, and when transmitting, can easily converse at 20 to 30 words per minute. Morse code will always remain a viable means of providing highly reliable communications during difficult communications conditions.